Snowball has fortified its team and board with a series of appointments.

The appointments demonstrate the growing number of investors who have realised that investment priorities are changing: many are demanding a more sustainable and better quality return. Snowball’s momentum recognises its role as a standard setter, demonstrating it is possible to manage investments for impact, risk and competitive financial returns.

Sean Farrell, an alumnus of 3i, TDR Capital, TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs, has been promoted to chief investment officer (CIO), having joined Snowball’s team as an investment director in 2022. He was previously global head of private markets for Partners Capital, a leading investment firm with more than $40 billion in assets under management (AUM).

Mr Farrell has more than 20 years of experience in private and public markets investing and portfolio construction, both directly and through fund manager selection. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a degree in engineering from Trinity College Dublin.

Mr Farrell replaces Peter Baxter, who moves into a non-executive director (NED) role, having joined Snowball at its inception in 2016. Mr Baxter will chair Snowball’s impact investment committee.

Daniela Barone Soares, Snowball’s chief executive, said: “Peter has been instrumental in the Snowball success story so far. In his new role as NED, we will continue to benefit from Peter’s wisdom and his deep mainstream asset management experience. We are delighted to have someone of Sean’s calibre ready to step into Peter’s big shoes.”

Mr Baxter commented: “After 37 years in investment management when I think about the future, common sense tells me this is the right way to invest.”

Also joining Snowball’s board as a NED is Danielle Walker-Palmour. Ms Walker-Palmour is the founding director of Friends Provident Foundation, an independent charity dedicated to creating a fair and sustainable economy.

Ms Walker-Palmour has held senior policy and research roles at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Law Society of England and Wales. She has also advised HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office, and the Financial Services Authority (now the FCA). She is a board member of the National Lottery Community Fund, one of her non-executive appointments.

Meanwhile, Christine Chang joins Snowball’s investment committee.

Ms Chang previously worked for Big Society Capital, where she was a member of the executive and investment committees. She led the design and delivery of client investment products, bringing significant investment into the impact investment market. She has nearly 20 years' financial services experience, an MBA from INSEAD, and both a BSc in biology and BSc in management science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Ms Chang is the managing director of Path to Impact, a consultancy embedding impact strategies into investment.

Ms Chang said: “Snowball are one of the pioneers of true impact investing. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help them continue delivering competitive financial returns, alongside deep and measurable impact for investors and wider society.”

Ms Barone Soares said: “The investment sector needs accountability and transparency. We continue to recruit and retain original thinkers with extensive asset management experience, as we work towards our goal of setting standards now for tomorrow’s markets.”

About Snowball

Snowball is an ambitious investment manager, demonstrating that it is possible to deliver competitive returns whilst being thoughtful stewards of people and nature.

A certified B Corporation, Snowball is purpose-built to help serious investors use their money to shape a better world, profitably. The fund is invested across two interconnected themes (social equity and environmental sustainability) into opportunities that use capital to add value rather than extract it. In 2022 Snowball published the detailed findings from an independent verification of their impact processes, setting a standard for transparency and accountability driving better investing.

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Media contact: laura.boyle@snowball.im

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